ASME WISE interns complete Washington program

Mel Torre
ASME Communications

This summer marked the 27th year of the Washington Internships for Students of Engineering (WISE) program. ASME sponsored two outstanding students during the nine-week summer program held in Washington, D.C.

Emily Pfautsch of Harrisonville, Mo., a graduate student of mechanical engineering at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and Chris Deal, a resident of Jefferson, Iowa, who is a senior mechanical engineering student at the University of Iowa (Iowa City), both completed their WISE internships while serving at the ASME Washington Center.

Chris Deal (left) and Emily Pfautsch on the steps of the Capitol, where they spent their summer in the Washington Internships for Students of Engineering program.

"The WISE internship is by far the best internship for an engineer interested in public policy," said Pfautsch, whose interests are in the area of nanotechnology research. "The program gave me an excellent overview of how the public policy process works and what functions the federal agencies serve."

Founded in 1980 through the collaborative efforts of professional engineering societies, WISE has become one of Washington's premier internship programs. Its goal is to educate future leaders of the engineering profession to understand and work within the important intersections of technology and public policy.

"My summer in Washington, D.C., was an amazing experience. I was able to see firsthand how policy is created and met with several organizations that play a key role in the bridging of science, technology, and policy," said Deal, who was recently selected for a Rotary International Fellowship and whose interests focus on alternative energy and sustainable development.

Pfautsch and Deal were two of 11 students selected this year, from seven technical societies, to participate in the WISE program. "As a congressman and engineer, I am very pleased to see that engineering societies help future leaders of the engineering profession learn about the role of public policy in science and technology. WISE is a truly outstanding program," said Joe Barton, U.S. Representative from Texas.

During the program, students are required to produce a public policy paper that reflects their interest and that of the technical society they represent. Their recommendations were then presented on Capitol Hill during the last week of the program. Pfautsch titled her paper "Challenges in Commercializing Carbon Nanotube Composites." Deal's paper is titled "Climate Change Technology Transfer: Opportunities in the Developing World." Both papers can be found in the WISE online journal, the Journal of Engineering and Public Policy, at www.wise-intern.org/journal/index.html.

ASME's government relations activities, like participation in the WISE program, prepare and enable the Society's members to provide all levels of government with the essential technical information and guidance needed to make informed decisions that affect public policy. For more information on these programs, visit www.asme.org/NewsPublicPolicy/GovRelations.

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